crossing_lostrp | Day 9 Onward and away

Entry tags:

day 9,
skipped time

Day 9 Onward and away

After a breakfast of pop-tarts (all the toaster would make) and coffee, the assembled guests stuffed what goods they could into packs and such. Rose produced an extra backpack that was filled with rice and pasta.

The two bags of flour were left behind because of weight. But nutrition bars were packed. As were the Oscial mender and the spare dermal regenerator.

Once outside the TARDIS, they all traverled together to the beach, where the Tranmitter team helped Faith and Mara pack. They carried a map to Camp Crash and a note writen in Ancient.

'Daniel,

This is Faith and Mara. Faith is an old aquiantance of Tara's. They will tell you their story. They have not lied in my presence, and seem genuine enough. Hope to see you in two days with good news. By the way, introduce Faith to Ripley. They seem to have a bit in common.

Doctor'

P.S. Rose said if Sawyer goes anywhere near her kit, please break his fingers.'

Faith and Mara couldn't read it, but were told the gist of it.

They parted good naturedly, and each set off in the oposite direction. One set towards realitive safety, the other towards the unknown.

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"Okay, then what we need to do is to figure out what sort of wave cycle the EM field is operating at..." Rodney had already pretty much worked out some of the formulae on that, taking the raw data that the TARDIS had (he was up most of the night, after all, and the Doctor /did/ say...)

"Now... to... Okay. We need to work with amplitude times angular frequency plus phase..." He was looking at the entire concept of instantaneous frequency in order to work with the added variable of time.

Rodney looks up at the Doctor. He actually looked, for one of the first times, pretty confident with his hint of lopsided smile, though an arm came up to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Of course, the idea that whatever work they did here could be broken by the Others that were obviously watching them, biding their time, occurred to him, but why allow that to dampen what little hope he'd had? After all, they can deal with that /after/.

"Let me know when you're ready. We can start broadcasting. I managed to put in a small data burst of information, a few names, and overlay it with an SOS. It's layered. First, the SOS. Should be apparent to anyone. Second are names and a request that it get passed to the Pentagon. Third, information about our problem-- frequencies, time distortions, what we're doing about it. All in a fraction of a second." He was pleased. "Wrote the program for the Air Force a couple of years ago, so they shouldn't have a problem with it."

(OOC: Rightly or wrongly, this is what I'm working with. Unfortunately, I'm no astrophysicist. All hail the Great God wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instantaneous_frequency)

The Doctor grinned back. “Firing up… wrong choice of words this close to Nitro… starting up.”

He turned on the unit, and it made a sound similar to that heard when connecting to a dial up modem, or a FAX machine. “We’re going,” his eyes danced over each part of the radiotelephone, looking for the first signs of a problem. Some of the bases were showing rust.

“Signal’s flying. As far as I can tell from in here, we’re transmitting, maximum power. Can’t tell if we’re getting through, but we are transmitting.” The Doctor’s grin was infectious as he looked up to Rose, where she was again holding the torch.

She grinned back. “Hello, lovely little resort.”

The Doctor started turning the frequency dial, giving them as broad a band of transmission as he could.

All of a sudden there was a god-awful high pitched feedback shriek, and one of the old transistors popped, blowing in a fiery little rein of sparks. Faster than she could see, The Doctor had his hand cupped over the transistor, hissing as he was burned. But no sparks spread, none it the old dynamite.

Rose was still trying to get the ringing out of her ears. “What was that?”

“Feedback, the signal bouncing off something and hitting us right back at the source.” His grin had faded and he wore a grim face. “Someone blocked us. But, there were ten seconds of signal before the feedback, calculating time and the approximate level of the bubble. We just might have punched through before they figured out what we did and blocked it off.”

Rose looked at Rodney then the Doctor. “So a message got out?”

“Possibly, yeah. Almost definitely. But it might have suffered from the interference. Might not have been as clear as we’d have liked.”

The moment the unit is started up, and yes, the Doctor got a distinct eye roll for the comment, Rodney stared at the two intently, that bit of optimism showing through. "The message is a fraction of a second. The longest bit is that SOS." Just in case hadn't said that before? So the scientist was prone to babbling, this situation wasn't anything new.

One... two... three seconds...

Rodney's mouth drops open, the smile coming more as their creation begins to beam, and unconsciously, the astrophysicist looks up as the signal flies. "We have to be getting through... everything was right. You saw that. Nothing was..."

Five... six... seven seconds...

"Come on... come on... I want to see home again." Sweat continued to dot his brow, though this time, he really didn't care much to wipe it. Rodney was too busy willing the patchwork radio to work, waiting for that moment when they could possibly leave and have it continue to broadcast unattended. Give it a minute, two minutes, five, then he'd be more than happy to climb down and head back to the beach and his little lean-to in anticipation of going back to Colorado and catching the next flight of the Daedalus back home.

Nine... te-- *spark*

His look of pleasure, of victory turned immediately to one of absolute horror, and when the Doctor puts his hands over the shower of sparks, Rodney shut his laptop and leaned over it, protecting the equipment there. Not much good that'd do, but still....

"No-no-no-no-no..." The first response came after the shower, his expression one of disbelief. "Oh, no. No-no-no. You can't do this to us! You worthless, old piece of junk! And why in the hell am I yelling at a radio?" Rodney sat for a long minute, staring at the betrayer. He could hear the explanations, and the question. Someone was actively blocking them. Confirmed. Like a giant chess game. Rodney was good at chess, however.

"If we had our ten seconds, the message went out at least seven hundred and fifty times." His data compression is that good. "They can clean up the signal. I know they can."

Way to go, brainiacs! *bounces*

"Right then. Your friends in Colorado will get that message, and hopefully be able to rig up a way to punch throught he temporal buble, themselves. Because as long as this island stays six months out of phase, it's not going to be visable. And if they do punch through it'll be a matter of WHEN then punch through, as there's still a six month window and they could arrive anywhere in that time frame. Unless we can figure out how to burst this groups little bubble and stop playing their games." The Doctor pulled the spare dermal regenorator out of his pack and ran it over his palm.

"So all this was for nothin, we could still be here for six months?" Rose looked crushed.

"Course not. Rodney's friends could figure out the temporal dynamics and punch through tomorrow. Or next week. We sped up the process, and now the outside is gonna be lookin' at what's goin on in here. More pressure on our less than generous hosts. Help could arrive at any time, and even if they can't punch through, if they arrive in six months from now, they can BE there when the bubble catches up, it'd be like the rescue boats just blink into existance from this side. If they manage a temporal disrupter they'll have us out for sure." The Doctor began packing up his equipment.

"What we've done here, is notify the outside world, and assured help in no later than six months, possibly less now. We gave the survivors, and ourselves real hope, not vague dreaming. Now all we have to do is stay alive."

Rose frowned. "And the Others know where we are right now."

"Right. Pack up, Rodney. We've done all we can. We have to get out of here. It wasn't just the transistor. That just made the bigges showly spark. The feedback melted some of the older componants. We can unhook it from the geothermal power source and take it with if you want."

Rose already moved to the cave mouth and called down. "They got a signal through. I'll let them explain it on the way. But we gotta finish up and leg it outta here. Not looking forward to a possible ambush up top."

"Ok campers, let's follow the yellow brick road," Jon pointed upwards. "We got that pork packed up nicely?"

"Yup," Ash responded. "I wouldn't mind something to wash my hands with though."

Jon nodded wryly. Blood wasn't pretty, regardless of where it came from, but they didn't have enough water to waste on washing. "You and me both. Hey Rose, if you drop the rope down we can lift it up to the cave before people start heading up. If one person's got to wait, it's probably better to do so indoors - there might be another of these things running about down here."

Sayid was already climbing the cliff face by this point, not wanting to concern himself too much with the fate of the boar. Tempting as the scent of cooked meat would be this evening, it was not for him - particularly given the danger of the meat having gone bad.

By the time it was his turn to climb, Jon had given his hands a basic spit-wash but was still grimacing at the overall effect - still smelly and not a little sticky.

Once in the cave he sought out Rodney and resisted the urge to give him a pat on the back, smiling and nodding in all the right places instead.. at least until the technobabble became too much. All that talk about bubbles and temporal disrupters was just a little too far over his head.

"Nice work, McKay. You did it - the message got through, and that's all I need to know. What's the bet that Carter's already on the case?" Jon nudged the guy with his elbow, better than grimy pawprints in any case. "How do you like your pork chops? Or bacon? Though I'm afraid we had to leave the ribs behind - the bone made 'em too heavy."

OOC: Did Sayid ever eat boar in the series? I always wondered, because presumably he's a Muslim therefore pork is bad, but I've never seen him pray either...

Rodney still looks more than a little peeved at the audacity of the radio having self-destructed. It looked like something out of the original 'Mission Impossible' television series, though at least he knew that the message had gone out... over and over and over... well, lots. He'd beaten them; well, he and the Doctor. He's got the right, and as the feeling of failure dissipates some and the truth-- 750 copies of the message got out before it was shut down, to be pleased with the work, and as first the Doctor made comments, to only be followed by Jon, yes, the astrophysicist is most definitely pleased.

"Yes. Sam'll get the message, start working from her end. I sent as much information as we had on the problem, including the formulae, and she should have something from that side." Rodney looked towards Jon, an almost smug look settling in. He knows that Jon knows exactly what the Pentagon thinks of both him /and/ Carter... "Personally, I'd rather be -out there- on the receiving end of the message than being the one stuck in here, but..." Once Sam finds out that Daniel was here as well as Jon, well, she won't be quite as reticent as if it was just simply McKay. Not that he'd admit that to anyone, of course.

"Pork?" Rodney begins to pack up his laptop, shutting it down, replacing it into his backpack before casting a glance at what was left of the transmitter. Might as well take what was still 'good', not that there's much. Even the Doctor's manufactured boards were fried. "Oh... um... back bacon. Pork chops with apple, a little cinnamon. I can do without the stuffing."

“Oh, the apples we can do, I know we’ve passed some trees, and there’s cinnamon in the cupboard in the Tardis. Looks like I’m cookin. Tonight, seein’ how Jon brought home the bacon.” Rose winked.

“That was just terrible.” The Doctor shook his head as he repacked his own backpack.

“This from the happy medium bloke, don’t even go there.” Rose helped each of the team members up once they hit the lip of the cave.

“Don’t know bout you lot, but I’m thinking one or two go up by hand, with the rope and grapple, then the rest can climb with the rope. Don’t like the idea of our friend waitin up there with a knife to cut the rope.” The Doctor coiled the rope and slung it over his shoulder, and cross his chest, letting the grapple hang in back, over his backback. He was first to climb out and head upwards. It was a bit easier going up, as you had a better view of the hand and foot holds.

“Don’t like the idea of her waitin with a knife at the top either way. Be careful.” Rose was waiting to be second up.

“Always careful, me.” He grinned down at her.

That did NOT ease her mind.

“Looks like you two are first in the shower then.” She turned to Jon and Ash in a futile attempt to not worry.

((OOC: I think Lost kinda skipped over whether Sayid ate any of the boar. They didn’t show it. At the beach there would have been an alternative of seafood. So it’s up to whomever is playing him at the moment.

P.S. whomeever controlls our 'visitor' can let us know if she's still about or what a mess they find. :))))

No one is playing Sayid, he's sort of a free for all.

Um, have fun with it. I doubt she's still around, and I have no idea what sort of mess they find. That was

sophiedb's well played little bit there, so play with it all you like.

Seeing the sense in going one at a time didn't mean Jon had to like it, so by the time Rose reached the top (ably ogled by Ash, once again) his limbs were itching to get going. The Doctor had called down that everything was ok, but the alien sounded even more amused than usual. Knife-wielding red heads aside, Jon wasn't too sure he wanted to know what the joke was.

Finally laying his hands on the rope, Jon tied himself a harness and set off up the cliff. It was an easier trip than coming down, but still tiring after the adrenalin rush of the boar attack. The mess at the top wasn't quite what he'd expected though.

"Oh, so they're artists now too?"

Rose drifted past, grumbling as she picked up random items. "'Parently. Wankers."

"I think it's pretty good actually," the Doctor declared brightly, shaking out a sleeping bag. "The composition's a bit basic, but everyone's got to start somewhere."

Jon raised one highly sarcastic eyebrow as he untied the rope and dropped it back down to whoever wanted to go next. "It's a smiley face, Doc. A big fucking smiley face. Not the Mona Lisa."

Rodney had all his gear together, and after taking a long look at what was left sitting in the pool of nitro, moved to the edge and looked up dubiously. Going down was easier, at least in his mind. All he'd needed to do was dangle. Now, he had to actually /climb/.

"Okay."

He took the rope as Jon dropped it, tested it for, well, isn't pulling on it briefly what 'they' always do before climbing? Testing its tensile strength, perhaps, because a simple tug certainly doesn't tell one if it's secured properly and can hold weight. Still, he tried to climb, the last one out of the cave. He'd been the last down, after all.

It was with a little more exertion than perhaps there needed to be that Rodney finally made it to the top, still sweating, though this time from expending energy. Still, he was pleased with himself, even if he didn't particularly look it, instead studying his hands, looking for rope burns and hemp splinters before noticing...

"Kilroy was here."

Still, the idea of fresh food was a lure for the scientist, and a little clarification is in order. What he'd asked for when Jon offered... well, he figured that it'd be a hard order to fill. He caught up to Rose, stopping beside her, his tones low and actually rather hopeful.

"Pork and cinnamon and apple. Really?"

Rose shoved a pair of jeans in her backpack, having got most of her underwear back out of sight.

"Yeah, so long as we pass apples on the way. And either rice or mashed potatoes made from those flakes. No butter, sorry. It's evolving into a refrigerator conquering life form, evidently."

She got her things sorted and gestured to McKay's hands. "The Doctor has that Dermal thingy, if you want that taken care of."

"Yeah, right, but they didn't have to use my unders to make it." She shoved a lace edged bra into her pack, now that she had unleaded the toolbox and laptop.

There was no attempt at neatness. She just wanted to get, was that a pink lace thong, shoved into her pack. Evidently women's unders made excellent eyes for the smily, well the left eye, anyway. The red tinging Rose's face almost matched her red tank top.

"What is it with boars and my clothes? Hmm? One runs off with my jeans, this time someone plays Michalangelo with part of my wardrobe." She was fuming.

"And if you laugh just once, mister, I'll... I'll... I'll put your knickers on a stick and parade 'em through the beacj camp." She glared at the Doctor, who was grinning like an idiot and trying very hard not to laugh outright.

"No you wouldn't." He was still managing, barely, not to laugh.

"So sure of yourself, are you?" She stood with hands on hips, a pink hoodie bunched in her fist.

"Oh, absolutely." He turned away and continued to scan the horizon for some sign of trouble, beyond what they already had. Couldn't parade around what didn't exist.

"When you've had a rest, we'll head back. Should make the Tardis by nightfall. No bedrooms tonight, sorry. Consol room floor is the best I can offer. But it'll be safe, and the kitchen and bathroom will be open. You might reconsider the shots to make you all immune to biological toxins in food and drink." He urged them again. "No need for tablets and you can drink water anywhere."

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Day 9 Onward and away

[McKay] Now to try it...(tag all)

Re: [McKay] Now to try it...(tag all)

[McKay] Now to try it...(tag all)

OOC applause

[Doctor] Clearing out (tag Trasmitter Team)

[Jon] Clearing out (tag Trasmitter Team)

[McKay] Clearing out (tag Trasmitter Team)

[Doctor/Rose] Clearing out (tag Trasmitter Team)

OOC

[Jon] Clearing out (tag all)

[McKay] Clearing out (tag all)

[Rose] Clearing out (tag all)

[Rose/Doctor] Airing the laundry(tag all)